1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data entry devices for digital signal processing, and more specifically to a key having two or more data entry modes to facilitate rapid entry of data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data entry devices are known in the art. Such data entry devices include numeric keypads, alphanumeric keypads, mouses and joysticks. Each of these data entry devices has been optimized for a specific purpose. For example, a numeric keypad is often found on a telephone, whereas an alphanumeric keypad, a mouse, or a joystick is often found for use with a general or specific purpose processing platform, such as to allow a user to draft documents, select controls from a web page, or control a screen display, respectively.
While such data entry devices are useful, improvements in digital signal processing equipment have resulted in “crossover” functionality for such data entry devices. For example, it is common for a numeric keypad on a phone to be used to enter alphanumeric data. This is typically done by using a single key to select between three or four alphanumeric characters, such as by depressing the key between one and four times in succession, pressing a first numeric key to identify a sequence of three or four alphanumeric characters and then a second key to indicate a selection of one of the alphanumeric characters, or in other suitable manners. While such crossover functionality facilitates data entry in certain situations, the existing techniques are cumbersome to implement.